This tutorial will show you how to spot, understand, translate and extract the important French dates along with general words that pertain to time, days, months, years and hours. These are spelled out usually located at the beginning of each record. Though, sometimes it can be located at the every end or the middle of the record.
IT’s confusing at first, but with study and ‘ Dates and Numbers flash lists” you will get the hang of it.
Let’s start with the names of the days, months, numbers to 20 and years:
| mil = thousand | janvier -January |
| cent = hundred | février – February |
| an(s) = year(s) | mars – March |
| mil six cent = (1600) | avril – April |
| mil sept cent (1700) | mai – May |
| mil huit cent (1800) | juin – June |
| mil neuf cent (1900) | juillet – July |
| août – August | |
| un – one | septembre – September |
| deux – two | octobre – October |
| trois – three | novembre – November |
| quatre – four | décembre – December |
| cinq – five | 7bre – September |
| six – six | 8bre – October |
| sept – seven | 9bre – November |
| huit – eight | 10bre – December |
| neuf – nine | |
| dix – ten | dimache – Sunday |
| onze – eleven | lundi – Monday |
| douze – twelve | mardi – Tuesday |
| treize – thirteen | mercredi – Wednesday |
| quatorze – fourteen | jeudi – Thursday |
| quinze – fifteen | vendredi – Friday |
| seize – sixteen | samedi – Saturday |
| dix-sept – seventeen | |
| dix-huit – eighteen | an – year |
| dix-neuf – nineteen | mois – month |
| vingt – twenty | jour – day |
| vingt-et-un – twentyone | semaine – week |
| trente – thirty | heure – hour |
| quarante – forty | aujourd’hui – today |
| cinquante – fifty | hier – yesterday |
| soixante – sixty | avant-hier – the day before yesterday |
| soixante-dix – seventy | dernier – last (as in last year, month or week) |
| septante – seventy | du matin – morning |
| quatre-vingt – eighty | demain -tomorrow |
| quatre-vingt-dix – ninety | |
| nonante – ninety |
The following are examples of years:
mil six cent (1600) quatre-deux (42): mil six cent quatre-deux = 1642
mil sept cent (1700) neuf (9): mil sept cent neuf = 1709
mil huit cent (1800); vingt (20): mil huit cent vingt = 1820
mil six cent soixante neuf : 1669
mil sept cent quatre-ving et un: 1781
mil huit cent quatre-ving treize: 1893
mil neuf cent cinq: 1905
‘nonante’ is sometimes used to denote 90 as in
mil huit cent *nonante cinq : 1895
‘septante’ is sometimes used to denote 70 as in
mil huit cent septante deux: 1872
Now, let’s start putting it together:
“L’an mil huit cent quatre-vingt dix – The year 1890
le vingt-un mai – (the) 21 May
à sept heures du matin – seventh hour in the morning; 7:00 am
L’an mil huit cent quatre-vingt dix, le vingt-un mai à sept heures du matin
Extractable information:
*Date of birth: May 21 1890; optional: born 7:00 am
Example of an older record:
“aujourd’hui lundi, de six jour d’août mil sept cent trente-cinq – Today, Monday, the sixth day of August 1735
The important information: *Date of baptism: Aug 6 1735, optional: Monday
The French Republican Calendar
Months
Autumn months
Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire
Winter Months
Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse
Spring Months
Germinal, Floréal, Prairial
Summer Months
Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor
And just when you were getting all this down pat, along comes the French Republican Calendar. This is one that begs for a brick wall to smash. Remember the French Revolution? That is where it began; 1792 to 1805. To read about this confusing system, you can study it at this site. You can download a chart here It’s a crazy system, but then it was a crazy time. In a nutshell, there are 12 months, 10 days of the week and 14 ‘decades’ plus complementries (compli). The Republican years are usually represented in Roman numerals.
More information on the French Republican Calender from Elise Noble
Don’t despair there is a way to ‘conquer’ it by using an online Converter.
What is the French Republican Calender?
French Republican Calendar Convertor -You Need This!
French Republican Calendar by Erik Laforce Interesting chart and info
Let’s use an example:
onze (day) floreal(month) VIII (year)or onze floreal ans huit. Use the online converter to convert to our Gregorian date.
French Republican Calendar Convertor or this one as a back up French Republican Calendar Convertor
On the web page, the converter has a pull down menu for both Republican and Gregorian. In the Republican space,, select the day, month, and decade (which will be in numeral numbers and then click the Gregorian button. It will be May 1, 1800. Now, you try converting Republican to Gregorian (and visa versa).
Convert these dates (and don’t forget the complimentary days):
cinq frimaire an IV;
sept frutidor six ;
27 Brumaire an II;
2 j.compli. an XIII ;
You’ll be encountering this calendar in France & Belgium during the years 1793-1805
Now, you are one more step ahead
Next, you’ll be examining and studying Tutorial 2 -Key Phrases . Onward!